expositus

Forms

expositus (feminine exposita, neuter expositum); first/second-declension adjective^[1]

Etymology

Used as an adjective, it is the past participle from Latin expōnō (“to set out, expose”).^[1][2] That verb is ex- with pōnō (“to put, place”), which de Vaan explains as ⟨*po-sinō⟩ “to put down”, from Proto-Italic *po-sine/o-.^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

The OLD's earliest examples of the adjective are in Seneca,^[1] though Köbler lists Cicero as its first source.^[4] Seneca contrasts things that need an interpreter with what is plain (hoc expositum est).^[1]

Semantic evolution

Lewis & Short explain it as “set out in public”, hence open and accessible: Statius uses it of an open threshold, and Lucan of a divine power that is open to all.^[2] Of people it means frank and approachable: Seneca says that some seem simple because they are open, and Pliny the Younger praises someone as easy to meet and frank.^[1][2] Of writers and style it means easy to understand, lucid, as when Quintilian recommends the clearest authors;^[1][2] in a bad sense it means trite or commonplace, as in Juvenal's poet who produces nothing commonplace.^[1][2]

Timeline

• 4 BC–65 AD – Seneca uses it of what is plain and of open people.^[1][4]
• 39–65 AD – Lucan uses it of a power open to all.^[2][4]
• c. 35–95/96 AD – Quintilian uses it of lucid authors.^[1][4]
• c. 45–96 AD – Statius uses it of an open threshold and of affable manners.^[1][2][4]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Open, accessible.^[2]
2. Of people or manners, frank, affable, practising no concealment.^[1][2]
3. Easily understood, lucid, plain.^[1][2]
4. (pejorative) Trite, commonplace.^[1][2]

Usage notes

As a neuter plural noun, exposita means the parts open to view, as when Seneca says he knows only someone's face and what he shows even to passers-by.^[2] The adverb expositē, “plainly, clearly”, is in Gellius.^[2]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
3. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
4. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de